


A Quick Fix

by Domomomo



Category: Trolls (2016), Trolls: The Beat Goes On (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:44:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Domomomo/pseuds/Domomomo
Summary: Branch hates grading papers for a number of reasons, and honestly this just adds to the list.





	A Quick Fix

**Author's Note:**

> So this is from an as of yet unpublished Uni AU. Poppy Kingsley is 20-year-old flowerchild/student, Justin Branch is a 39-year-old exhausted ethics professor.
> 
> This was based off the prompt: "a paper cut"

“That's it for today. Make sure to turn in your short essays by Friday. If you turn it in on the Portal you have until midnight, otherwise it's due at the beginning of class Friday.” He was really hoping all of them would use that incentive to submit it online. He hated,  _ hated _ grading by hand. The computer did so much of the work for him these days, grading longhand was a pain in the ass. A waste of paper  _ and _ time.

Students packed away their laptops and notebooks, flowing out the door in a herd. He worked on collecting his own belongings, shuffling handouts. One of the papers, angled just right, gave his index finger a long vertical slice. The professor grumbled a low “ _ Ow, shit _ ” and dropped the documents. He pinched the cut between two fingers, hissing a breath as blood beaded to the surface.

“Mr. B, are you okay?” Branch looked up to see familiar brown eyes looking at him with concern. “Did you cut yourself?”

Branch nodded, refocusing his eyes on the cut: it wasn't that bad, but it stung like nothing else, the skin red and irritated. “Papercut. No big deal.”

“Lemme see.” Without further ado Poppy grabbed his hand, scrutinizing the injury. Branch heart began to beat more rapidly, not because of tender feelings, but from anxiety. A student was holding his hand, that was against the rules, right? His ears turned red as he watched the rest of the students filtering out, only a few stopping to chat with each other before their next class. No one was paying attention to them, so it was no big deal, and she was just checking out a cut on his hand, so there was nothing to worry about, right?

Right?

Branch snapped back from an impending headache when Poppy said, “Don't worry, I've got ya covered!” She began rifling through her tie dye backpack, her pink spout of hair flopping as she searched. “Arts and crafts are a dangerous hobby, so I'm always prepared with bandages and wipes! Never know when you're gonna gash yourself with an exacto-knife.”

He nearly reprimanded her for blatantly admitting to carrying a knife around, but held off as she tore open an alcohol wipe packet. Delicately, she dabbed at the slight wound, offering a “ _ sorry, sorry!”  _ when Branch grunted, his papercut burning mildly.

“Okay, almost done,” she soothed, peeling open a bandage package. He couldn't keep himself from staring as she stuck the bandage to his skin, wrapping it around the finger. He barely had a second to register the neon green color before she leaned down and kissed it, quick and soft.

Just as quickly she pulled back, a big grin on her face. “A bandage and a healing touch! The cut’ll be gone in no time!” As if she hadn't done the completely insane thing of  _ kissing her ethics professor on the hand _ , Poppy zipped up her bag and flung it over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow, Mr. B! Feel better!”

“You too…?” His hand (the one without the kissed bandage, what the  _ fuck _ ) reached up to rub his neck, as if he could massage away the confusion and stress. He stared without really seeing at the papers that caused it all.

Branch wondered if Poppy would turn in her essay on paper.


End file.
